“Pony” by Ginuwine. “Womanizer” by Britney Spears. “S&M” by Rihanna. These are songs we listen to now and wonder why our parents let us sing them. 

We never knew these songs were inappropriate. We just sang them and had a great time. 

However, it seems that it isn’t as easy to hide that songs are inappropriate now. 

Artists used to hide their dirty jokes within the song so children wouldn’t recognize them. Now artists don’t care. They’ll put it in the title. 

Just think about “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan the Stallion or “34+35” by Ariana Grande. The titles themselves are references to dirty jokes. 

This has led to a lot of controversy surrounding explicit music. Some people say it’s the parent’s job to censor music for their children. And others say it’s the artist’s job. 

One of the main arguments is that if children listen to songs about sex they’ll be sexually active before they’re ready. 

However, this isn’t true. According to the American Psychology Association, a minor’s view on sexual activity doesn’t change when they listen to explicit music. 

It’s not artists’ responsibility to censor their music so children can listen. 

If parents don’t want their child to listen to explicit music, they should keep their child away from it.  

There are many more options for kid-friendly music. Listen to gospel, clean pop or clean alternative music. 

Children can also listen to Kidz Bop. They remix popular explicit songs and make them kid-friendly. 

Although it’s easy to blame artists for releasing explicit music that children might listen to, artists don’t force anyone to listen to their music. 

At the end of the day, it’s your child not the artists’. Therefore, it’s your responsibility to make sure your children don’t listen to explicit music. It’s not the artists’ job to censor their explicit music.